Top Ten Songs by the Unicorns

The Unicorns were a band that almost came out of nowhere and suddenly gained a little bit of popularity due to positive press from various music publications. Unfortunately, the band itself was rather short-lived and broke-up essentially just when they were hitting their highest peak in popularity. However, they did leave us some great songs and here are my ten favorite ones.

10. “Haunted House” (Unreleased)
Although this song was never released properly by the band, it was often played at their live shows. The song was heavily focused around the lyrics, which told the story of a group going into a haunted house. Of course, Nick Diamonds soon finds himself being the only one in the house and that’s precisely when the real ghostly song kicks in.

9. “Jellybones” off of Who Will Cut Our Hair When We’re Gone?
Although this song is under three minutes long, it definitely falls into the “short but real sweet” category. With a catchy chorus that would make just about anyone sing along, “Jellybones” is a perfect little pop gem.

8. “Thunder & Lightning” off of Unicorns Are People Too
Some might argue that this song is rather repetitive and repeats the rather odd line of ” I don’t care, I don’t care / leave their corpses in my underwear” too much, but it still sounds really cool. The guitar riff is catchy and the song ends wonderfully with a whistling solo.

7. “Sea Ghost” off of Who Will Cut Our Hair When We’re Gone?
Featuring a pleasant flute intro and a bowed bass, “Sea Ghost” is possibly one of the more standard indie pop songs that The Unicorns came out with. That, however, does not ruin it from being yet another fantastic little song.

6. “Emasculate The Masculine” off of The Unicorns: 2014
The second song off of The Unicorns: 2014 EP features lead vocals by Alden Ginger and a very catchy melody. The song has a very nice little guitar riff and a transition that makes the song burst with wonderful noise towards the end.

5. “Ruff Gem” (Unreleased)
This song later became an Islands song under the name “Rough Gem,” but it was originally a song that The Unicorns had sometimes played live. With a catchy keyboard piece and some great drumming, this song created a very nice vibe that fortunately was also present in the Islands’ version.

4. “Ghost Mountain” off of Who Will Cut Our Hair When We’re Gone?
With a cool keyboard sound and a powerful drumbeat, this song is very catchy. The lyrics are also really good as well, as it tells the story of campers who end up seeing a ghost on a mountain. It’s a very entertaining song and it’s just fun to hear.

3. “Ebb Tide, Azure Sky” off of Three Inches of Blood
Although this song was simply an early demo of theirs, it stands as their longest released song at seven minutes. With a catchy ongoing keyboard piece and a wonderful explosion of distorted and messy guitar, drums, and keyboard, this is melodic noise at its best.

2. “Tuff Luff” off of Who Will Cut Our Hair When We’re Gone?
The song might start off a little slow, but when every instrument mixes together and creates a wonderful sound that makes you happy, you’ll forgive them. The song features a catchy penny whistle and a fiddle as well. You’ll almost forget that this upbeat song actually talks about “going down in flames.”

1. “Inoculate The Innocuous” off of Who Will Cut Our Hair When We’re Gone?
You almost know this song is going to be good as soon as you hear the little guitar piece intro. When you then hear the wonderful sounds coming out of the Casio SK-1 on top of it, you’ll likely realize that you love this band and wish they stayed together.

This list was incredibly hard to produce because almost every song by The Unicorns is just that good. Although The Unicorns are now disbanded, fans can fortunately get their fix through Islands, which includes Nick Diamonds and sometimes members of The Arcade Fire as well. Alden Penner is also writing some fantastic solo music.